ZaraRadio1.6.2 Advice on .rot files please

Finally got the wet string from the UK to the US so can now post here;

I'm using Zara 1.6.2 16/24 & 7/7 in a hospital radio here in the UK. I use hourly events to call .m3u playlists containing specific files and .dir random selection from folders using the standard EXTINF: listing format. No problem with any of that and I understand the Zara engine pretty well but

I can't find anywhere how .rot files are used.

I get the impression from various posts I have read that a .rot file is a listing of files to be played in sequence, one on each individual call to the rotation until the list is finished, when it will then loop to the top and start again.

If this is so, it would enable me to say, call one episode of a programme series in sequence once a week until the last one et.c. It would also allow me to repeat a particular programme in the same week.

So can some kind soul please give me some examples of the syntax and calling mechanism (and also if my understanding above is correct)?

You need to set the .rot file up in the events. Set the day and time you want it to play and the maximum wait time and Once a day. The rot playlist file will play one file in it and then and then go back to the main playlist untill the next time you have the rot file to play in the events and then it will play the next file in the rot playlist.

RAG-FM 107.7 Raglan New Zealand
Top Music Top of the Dialhttp://ragfm.com
ALPB Member

Thanks Johny but I guess I'm missing something! On an instance of Zara with no events or playlists loaded I created 3 timed events 5 mins apart which were set to immediate, high priority and executing a file command to play a .rot file which was a simple text file with the path to named .mp3 tracks, one on each line.

There was no playlist running in the main Zara window when the events were executed. Is this the reason maybe?

In our system the hourly events call an .m3u playlist which has the sequence of files to be played in that hour, some entries are fully qualified paths and files, others are .dir commands to select from a named folder. All programme material is prerecorded and live presenters merely opt out of the automation, they do not interact with it in a live assist mode.

Obviously I have the syntax or structure wrong so could you give me an example please.

Some sort of playlist must be playing in Zara for the events to work, Zara must be playing something. If it is sitting idle the events wont work.

If you want top of the hour files playing when a dj is not using Zara, make a .Seq file up with what you want to play and load that in to one of the aux players and the DJ can start it manualy and when the .Seq file has played it will stop and the Dj can carry one with what they are playing. You can put .Rot files inside of a Seq file if you want a diff file to play each time the Seq file is run eg show promos, ad's, station ids.

RAG-FM 107.7 Raglan New Zealand
Top Music Top of the Dialhttp://ragfm.com
ALPB Member

the Zara pc is running 24/7 and is completely event driven in immediate mode, either calling an .m3u playlist or executing a stop with fade command on a running playlist, to ensure the next playlist starts on time. The studios are downstream of the Zara pc which only appears as an audio source on the desk to enable them to switch the studio in and out elegantly. When a studio is on air the Zara playlist for that hour is running in the background. Presenters cannot interact with the Zara program they can only substitute a studio in the station output.

On a non live instance of Zara I set up a manual playlist with a couple of mp3 tracks and set an event to interrupt the playlist immediately and play the .rot file, but all that happened at the specified time was the current track was stopped and the next track in the playlist was started, the rotation was not used. The event log just showed the second playlist track being played at the time the rotation should have started. I also tried setting the event to delayed mode but that didn't work either. I tried setting the event to "play" rather than "file" but that just seemed to remove the rotation entry from the file path box.

Is there any way you can send or attach some screengrabs of the entries so I can see how they are used?

What does the log say when the .rot file is not played, do is say it tried to play but the file wasnt there eg. There must be something in the log txt file. Are you making and saving the .rot files with Zara ?

Saving the .rot out of Zara gave me the syntax, I had just been creating the tests with notepad, so didn't have the other data. I'll do some more tests now the first one seemed ok (getting late in the uk) and let you know how I get on. I want the rotation to start the hour but I may have to fire up a playlist first.

Thanks for helping me see where I was going wrong, I now have the whole week's schedule amended and under test. I have another question; In an m3u playlist I need to include a pause of a few seconds at times. I know how to insert it in a live playlist and it works fine. However, if I try the same code in a saved playlist that is then called by an event it loads into the live window but Zara skips over it, regardless of where in the playlist the pause occurs.

The only way I have found to create a pause is to make an actual file of silence the required length and call that in the playlist, which is ok but a bit cumbersome. Have you come across this, and more importantly, do you have a solution?

The way your doing it is the way I would as well, dont forget to put ~0 on the end of the file name so it dosnt fade out or get cut off by Zara. Do this for all files you want to play to the end with no cross over fade (station ids, trailers) . the number is the crossover time so ~0 is none, ~1 would be 1 second. Just noticed the forum is reformating my txt wrong the ~ is not showing right, it should be the sqeggly line key above the tab button on the keyboard

RAG-FM 107.7 Raglan New Zealand
Top Music Top of the Dialhttp://ragfm.com
ALPB Member

Nothing to do with .rot files, but I discovered a whole new thing that can unintentionally go wrong with Zara.

Down at the bottom of the Zara window is a green button-icon called "Talk Over", which is notmally undepressed.

This morning all of our modulation sounded low, and after thinking that Stereo Tools Audio Processing had gotten mis-set, we noticed the Talk Over button was pressed, which lowered program volumes way down to be able to talk over from the Mic Line Input of the computer.

The mis-hap occured when we entered data into the wrong keyboard while looking at our other computer.

Under "options" we have set the talk-over level so it does not go lower, which will keep this problem from happening again.

Christopher, I had that same problem WITH XP... I tried and tried to pick up a Line In signal from my mixer using the Satellite function, but it never worked.

Recently I added a second computer with Windows 7, but I haven't run Zara on it so I don't know if Line In will work in this case.

I found a solution to the problem...

I use Zara 1.6.2 as my main program playlist, feed its output viia Virtual Cable to the LineIn Plugin in Winamp playlist, and have a second instance of LineIn Plugin in the Winamp playlist that is driven by the hardware Line In from my mixer.

Doing this has the added advantage that I can use all the DSP features of Winamp.

You can find the LineIn Plugin and latest version of Winamp in the Hobby Radio section at my website.